Chris Ensminger

Christopher William Ensminger (born December 8, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former professional basketball player.

Chris Ensminger

Chris Ensminger in 2010.
Personal information
Born	(1973-12-08) December 8, 1973 (age 51) Cincinnati, Ohio
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 10.25 in (2.09 m)
Career information
High school	Oak Hills (Cincinnati, Ohio)
College	Valparaiso (1992–1996)
NBA draft	1996: undrafted
Playing career	1996–2013
Position	Center
Coaching career	2013–present
Career history
As a player:
1996–1997	Tours Basket
1997–1998	FC Porto
1999	North Harbour Kings
1999–2001	Mitteldeutscher BC
2001–2008	Brose Bamberg
2008–2009	Paderborn Baskets
2009–2013	Baskets Bonn
As a coach:
2013–2017	Oettinger Rockets Gotha
2017–present	BBU Allgäu/Memmingen (later named Orange Academy)
Career highlights
As a player: 4x All-German League Team (2005, 2008–2010)

Playing career

High school

Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ensminger played high school basketball at Oak Hills High School.^[1]

College career

Ensminger played four years of college basketball at Valparaiso University (1992–1996), amassing 1,061 points and 910 rebounds. He helped Valpo win Mid-Con titles in 1995 and 1996,^[2] and left as the school's all-time leader in career rebounds.^[3] His record would stand for 21 years until Alec Peters broke the record on January 16, 2017, against Wisconsin-Green Bay.^[4]

Professional career

Ensminger started his professional career with Tours Basket in the French 2nd Division ProB league, in 1996, followed by stints in Portugal (FC Porto)^[5] and New Zealand (North Harbour Kings).^[6]

In 1999, Ensminger signed with SSV Weißenfels of the German Basketball Bundesliga, establishing himself as a dominant post player in the league right away. After two years with the Weißenfels team, he signed with fellow Bundesliga side TSK universa Bamberg (later known as Brose Bamberg). In his seven-year stay with the club, Ensminger was instrumental in helping Bamberg to German League championships in 2005 and 2007. He also played in international competition with the club, including the EuroLeague and the ULEB Cup (now called EuroCup).

After parting ways with Bamberg, he spent the 2008–09 season with another German team, Paderborn Baskets, and finished his playing career with a four-year stint with the Telekom Baskets Bonn (2009–2013).

Ensminger played in 485 games in his 14-year Bundesliga career, tallying a total of 5,438 points and 4,093 rebounds.^[7] He appeared in seven Bundesliga All-Star Games, and earned the Eurobasket.com website's All-Bundesliga Center of the Year honors in 2003, 2005, 2009 and 2010.^[8]

Coaching career

Ensminger moved into coaching immediately after his playing days were over, and he was named the head coach of the German 2nd Division ProA club Gotha Rockets, in May 2013.^[9] Under his tutelage, the Rockets reached the playoffs in three straight seasons, including berths in the semifinals in 2015 and 2016. Ensminger was relieved of his duties on January 31, 2017.^[10]

He took over the head coaching position for BBU Allgäu/Memmingen (later named Orange Academy)^[11] in Germany's top-tier youth league NBBL prior to the 2017–18 season.^[12] Ensminger also became Director of Development and Sports Performance at a player development company in Neu-Ulm, Germany.^[13]